ROYAL OAK – It took a lot of work – and patience – just for Otto Black to get back to where he began the day.

The Pinckney native endured two weather delays and stumbled through a three-hole stretch before rallying to salvage an even-par 72 and a top-ten finish at the 93rd Golf Association Michigan Championship Tuesday at Red Run Golf Club in Royal Oak.

Black, a junior on the University of Toledo golf team, finished tied for ninth overall and even for the two-day tournament with a 54-hole total of 216.

New Boston's Ryan Johnson won the tournament at 8-under 208 after posting his second straight round of 68 to nip Charlotte's Nathan Clark by two.

Beginning the day four shots back, it looked like Black might make a move early following a three-hour weather delay.

On the par-4 second and with his playing partners opting to lay up, Black bombed a 300-yard drive down the left side, carrying an ominous fairway bunker in the process. Left with inside of 50 yards, he stuck a wedge to within a couple feet and made birdie to get to 1 under.

Black gave himself ample opportunities to make up ground – several birdie putts inside of 20 feet on his front nine – but it would be another 13 holes before he converted again.

"I was driving it good today," Black said. "I just had a couple bad – I didn't make a lot of putts. I'm making good putts, I just couldn't quite seem to read them right. But I was really hitting it pretty good out there all day."

He went out in 1-under 35, but gave that back – and more – with a double on the par-4 10th followed by two more bogeys.

But like he did Monday – Black followed a 75 with a 3-under 69 in his second round – he finished strong.

Black closed with birdies on three of his last four holes, including the par-5 18th, where another delay pulled him from the course while waiting to hit his approach.

"On 10, 11, 12, I had a really rough stretch there, but I got it back," he said during the second delay. "I'm finishing strong, getting it back together to save that three-hole stretch."

It looked like it might by a pair of Pinckney standouts in contention when Wayne State University sophomore Jordan Andrus opened Monday with a 2-under 70 to sit near the top of the leaderboard. But Andrus was forced to withdraw early in the second round because of an injury to his lower back.

That opened the door for Hartland's Sam Stark to sneak inside the cut line, which was the low 30 players and ties.

Stark also ended on a high note, closing with back-to-back birdies for 74 and a tie for 27th at 7-over 223.

"It was a struggle the whole way," Stark said. "But, I birdied the last two, and that's pretty much the only positive thing I can say. I putted pretty well. My swing needs a lot of work, but I'm happy to be here, happy to make the cut. My game wasn't there at all, but the numbers weren't too terrible."

Stark, a senior-to-be at Ferris State, finished one back of another Eagles product, Hartland senior Bryce Messner, who finished with 76 and a tie for 25th.

"I actually scrapped around pretty good," said Messner, whose only birdie came on the 18th. "I wasn't hitting it the best, but my short game was really good. Pretty much the story of the day yesterday, too: Just scrape it up and see what you could do. You don't want to shoot yourself out of it, but you want to stay in contention."

Messner was the youngest player in the field in his first GAM Championship, which features some of the state's top amateur players. He paired alongside Kentwood's Tom Werkmeister, a Michigan Golf Hall of Fame inductee, during his final round.

"It was a great experience, a lot of great players of all ages," Messner said. "I'd rather play against the best players in the state and see how I stand against them. I just thought it was a great experience. Really fun."

■ NOTES: Stark, a top-10 performer in four tournaments in the spring, was named to the 2014 Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar Team July 27. As a team, the Bulldogs were named the NCAA Division II academic national champions. Stark will be leaving for Scotland to play with several other golfers from rival Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools next week.